We ran into Tina Brown while waiting for the elevator at the last night's Heart On! benefit at Lincoln Center and thought we'd make polite conversation. How about Dan Rather suing CBS? we asked, as the elevator failed to arrive. "I'm a fan of Dan Rather so I want to know how it will turn out," she said, poking impatiently at the elevator button. So are we! Maybe we can be friends with Tina. "I'd like to see it reinvestigated, so let's put it that way," she said. "I keep missing the elevator." Since we were standing there, we thought we'd get to know her a little better.

We said we'd heard the Plaza was having a big party, too. Has she ever stayed there? "I did stay there once when I first came to New York, and I hadn't heard of any other hotel," she said. "It was not actually at all comfortable, I discovered. And it was swarming with sort of strange Iranian hookers and things." The elevator opened and closed again. Tina tried pushing a different down button. No luck. Hm. How about the Mets? Was she sad? "I'm crushed," she said. She looked it. But then an open elevator arrived. Happiness! We ran toward it and stepped in. Or, er, she did. "Could you please not step into the elevator with me?" she asked us. "I have to go to something else. Thank you." Sure. That's what friends are for, right? Bye Tina! —Amy Odell